Shackle.



A. THUMSON.

SHACKLE.

APPLICATION FILED rm. 21, 1910.

Y 976,316. Patented Nom-22, 1910.

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A. THOMSON.

SBACKLB.

APPLIOATION FILED PEB; 21, 1910.

Patented N ov. 22, 1910.

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ITE@ STATES lPATENT FFIQE.

ARCHIBALD THOMSONQOF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

SHACKLE.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARCHIBALD THOMSON, citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shackles; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to an automatically operated travelinghog-shackle and apparatus for automatically transferring it from the endof its travel to its starting position.

The primary object of the invention is to construct a shackle which willbe caused to automatically release the animal carried by it at a desiredplace.

A further object is to provide a shackle which by being automatic in itsaction will dispense with a certain amount of labor.

In packing houses it is customary to provide a track to lead from theplace of killing to a scalding vat, for instance, where a carcass is tobe cleaned, and to provide a shackle by which to suspend and transfersaid carcass; a man usually releasing the animal at the vat by amanipulation of the shackle but it is my purpose as in some otherdevices of this class to dispense with this labor by providing a shacklewhich as it arrives at the vat will automatically drop the carcass andafterward pass on to an apparatus that will automatically return it to'the place from which it started.

In the appended drawing :--Figure l is an elevation of a system ofinclined tracks indicating several of my improved shackles suspendedtherefrom and means to lift them from their lowest point of travel andcause their return to the starting place. Fig. 2 is a partial sectionalelevation of my improved shackle showing one of the parts in an extendedposition. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts in a differentposition. Fig. I is an enlarged detail of a part of the said shackle.Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of a chain showing the manner of securingone of its ends to the shackle. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of atrack showing a shackle suspended therefrom and means to lift andelevate it to a higher track-section shown in Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed February 21, 1910.

Patented Nov. 22, 19910. Serial No. 545,072.

Fig. l, and Fig. 7 is a plan of a portion of a track and a portion ofthe elevating device.

A indicates an inclined track suspended in any good manner for instancefrom a supporting head-beam B, its upper end lying in the vicinity ofthe place of killing while beneath its lower end is the place of depositof the carcass, for instance, a scalding-tank or vat indicated at C.Suspended also from the beam B beneath the track A is a short secondaryor auxiliary track which consists preferably of two portions D D asclearly illustrated in Fig. 6; this said section overhanging thescalding vat referred to. A track E is hung high above the track A fromany suitable support F and is inclined in an opposite direction fromthat of the track A so that its lower end lies substantially at thehighest portion of the track A. Adjacent to both tracks A and E is anelevating device consisting, for instance, of a sprocket chain G carriedon sprockets H and so arranged with respect to said tracks as to be inposition to engage and carry a shackle from the lower to the uppertrack. Power is supplied to one of the wheels whereby the chain can bekept in constant motion. At intervals from the latter suspended arms Kare pivotally carried each having at its lower end an eye L, Fig. 6, bywhich the shackles will be lifted but this will be described more fullyhereinafter.

My improved shackle is indicated clearly in Figs. 2, 3, 4 5 and 6. Itconsists ofa hook-portion M to be suspended from the track A and toslide along it. This said portion is providedat one side with adepending extension N to form a hook to be engaged by the eye L of thearm K just mentioned. The member M is extended into the portion G to thelower end of which is secured in any good manner, as for instance bymeans of a cap P, a swiveled eye Q, Fig. 4, to which is attached a chainR provided with a hook S carrying at its hooked extremity an eye T fromwhich is suspended a short chain U. -Freely slidable upon the portion Oand adapted to slide down over the chain R is a sleeve V bearing aflange or head W at its upper end and having at its lower end one ormore hooks 2 there being two of them shown in the figures.

It is commonly the custom to attach a shackle to the leg of the carcassso that it y one of the links of the short chain U is hung upon one ofthe hooks E2. rlhe carcass is Vthus suspended from the chain R, thechain U merely assisting in opening the loop of said chain R at the timethe carcass is released. The sleeve V is allowed to slip down over thesaid chain R as shown in Fig. 4 being in position therefore, so thatth-e said chain U can be easily attached to it as described. The chain Rhaving been made i into a slip knot or noose about the leg thusSuspended there 1s no chance for the carcass to slip out. The shackle isnow placed upon the track A and moves down the same to the scalding vatby gravity. As it reaches the auxiliary track D before mentioned, whichlies in the path of its sleeve V, said sleeve passes between the twoportions thereof. The track A at this place is given a down- .ward bendor dip as at X so as to approach nearer said track D. The sleeve beingat substantially its lowest position hangs so that the under surface ofits head WV engages the upper surface of said track D. The sleeve beingnow supported in this way the dip in the track A permits the hookedportion M Yto drop through the sleeve and this action permits the chainto slacken and fall out of the hook S; the carcass being instantlyreleased. The chain R is necessarily loosened since its end havingattachment with the portion O is lowered with respect to the hook Swhich retains practically the same position with regard to its distancefrom the track A. The shackle continues its movement along the track Aand arrives at a slop lZ5 Awhere it is held until elevated automaticallyby the chain G before described.

It is noted that the track A extends slightly beyond the end of thesupporting beam B so that the shackle may be lifted from the track andelevated without interfering with said beam. As the chain travelsconstantly the hangers having the eyes L one by one engage the hook N ofthe lowermost shackle of the series that may be used and each is carriedupward and deposited upon the upper track E its hooked portion M beingplaced upon said track as the eye L begins its downward travel afterpassing over the upper wheel H. As this track is inclined as described,the shackle upon being placed thereon and released, as the eye L movesdownward away from its hook lvl, slides down to its starting pointVforrepeating the carcass hanging operation. The track may be soarranged that it will be continuous in that it may connect at its lowerend with the track A as shown in Fig. l. It will be seen that the hookportion M as placed upon the track E by means of the chain bears thesame relation to said track as it did to the track A from which it wasremoved. But when it passes around the curve of the said track E at thewheel H it is reversed in position but after reaching the lower end ofsaid track E and passing around upon the track A it bears the properrelation to the eye L of the chain G so that its hook N can Vbe engaged.However, since it is customary to remove the shackle from Y the rail inhanging the carcass it could in any case be properly replaced upon thetrack.

The apparatus as constructed is perfectly automatic in its action afterhaving been placed upon the track with the carcass suspended therefromsince having reached the scalding Vat, or other place of depositit willrelease said carcass without any attention afterward being returnedautomatically to its starting position.

I may make such changes in my device as will suggest themselves butwithout departing from the spirit and intent of the invention and itsclaims and it is evident that the shackle can be adapted to and used inany other line of work besides'that for which it is described herein.

Having thus described my invention7 l claim:-

l. The combination with an inclined track, of a shackle-portionsuspended therefrom and movable therealong by gravity, a secondshackle-portion carried by the first, means carried by the port-ions tosupport a load, and an inclined track adjacent to the first one andslanting in the same general direction and lying in the path of thesecond shackle-portion, said tracks gradually con verging at their lowerextremities.

2. The combination with an incl-ined track, of a shackle-portionsuspended therefrom, a second shackle-portion carried by and slidableupon the lirst, means attached to one of the portions and adapted forengagement with the other portion, a second inclined track adjacent tothe llrst and inclined in the same general direction and lying in thepath of the second shackle-portion, said track portions graduallyVapproaching one another at their lowermost extremities.

3. The combination with an inclined sup port, of a shackle mounted totravel thereon comprising two portions, a member suspended from theshackle and adapted to carry a load and to discharge the same when oneof the portions of the shackle is moved relatively to the other, and amember suspended from the said inclined support in the path of travel ofone of the portions of the shackle, said portion adapted to engage saidmember in its downward travel.

4. The combination with an upper inclined track, of a main shackleportion suspended therefrom and permanently carried thereby, anauxiliary portion carried by the main portion, the parts comprising twoportions movable relatively, means carried by the portions to carry aload, a second inclined track adjacent to the rst in the path of theshackle to engage the said auxiliary portion in its travel, the saidtracks approaching one another at their lower ends whereby the mainportion of the shackle is made to move downward and relative to itsother portion for the purposes described.

5. The combination with an inclined track, of a rod freely suspendedtherefrom and slidable thereon, a sleeve freely slidable upon the rod,means to suspend said sleeve from the rod, a freely movable memberattached to the rod, and means on the sleeve on which said member isdetachably held.

6. The combination of a suspended shackle-portion, a sleeve verticallyslidable thereon, a chain having one end attached to the saidshackle-portion within the sleeve and having its free end removably heldon said sleeve.

7. The combination with a track, of a rod suspended therefrom andshiftable thereon, a sleeve adapted for free vertical movement on saidrod, means to limit t-he movement of the sleeve on the rod, a freelymovable member secured to the rod, and a member on the sleeve on whichthe member is removably held.

8. The combination with a track, of a rod suspended therefrom andshiftable thereon, a member carried on the rod to move verticallythereon, means to limit its movement, a chain carried by the rod, andmeans on the sleeve on which the chain is removably held.

9. The combination with a track, of a rod freely suspended therefrom andshiftable thereon, a member carried by and movable vertically on therod, a chain secured to said rod4 and removably held on the member,means adjacent to and fixed relative to the track to engage the member,said means and the track approaching one another whereby the rod andmember are made to shift relatively.

10. The combination with two convergent track portions, one below theother, of a -shackle comprising a member suspended from the uppertrack-portion, a member movable vertically upon and suspended from theirst said member and adapted to engage and move upon the lower trackportion, and means attached to both members adapted for carrying a load,said member .when moved upon the convergent ends of the track adapted torelease said load.

11. The combination with a track, and a stop at its end, cf a shackleheld by said stop and provided at each of two opposite sides with ahook, a sprocket chain arranged to travel upward adjacent to the stop,means carried by the chain to engage one of the hooks of the shackle,and an upper track `upon which the shackle is deposited and with whichthe other hook of the shackle is adapted to engage.

12. In combination, a lower inclined track and an upper track, a shackleto move upon said lower track for suspending and carrying a load to aplace of deposit, a member in the path of the shackle and adapted toengage it in its travel whereby to release the load automatically, andan apparatus to automatically engage and raise the shackle from saidlower track to said upper track.

13. A shackle consisting of a rod bearing a part at its upper end bywhich to suspend it from a track, a device slidable upon the said rodand having a projecting top portion to engage a track, means to preventthe separation of the rod and the said device, a chain attached at oneend to the rod within the device, a hook attached to the free end of thechain, a chain secured to said hook and a projecting portion on thedevice to receive the last named chain.

14. The combination with an inclined track, of a shackle portionsuspended therefrom and moved therealong` by gravity, a sleeve carriedby and slidable vertically upon the said portion and having a projectingannular flange and an" extension, a second inclined track composed oftwo parallel members also inclined in the same general direction as thefirst and lying in the path of and arranged to receive the said flangeand arranged for receiving` the sleeve between them, the said tracksgradually approaching one another, and means associated with the saidshackle portion and adapted to engage the extension of the sleeve.

15. The combination of a track portion, a device having an ascending anda descending portion and always traveling in the same direction, itsascending` portion arranged to travel in close proximity to said track,an upper track portion above the first and in close proximity to thedescending portion of said device, a shackle, a hook on said shackle bywhich it is suspended from either of said track portions, an extensionon said shackle and a member carried by the device adapted to engagesaid extension.

16. The combination of an inclined track portion, a device having anascending and l pended from either of the tracks, an exten- 10descending portion and always traveling in sion on said shackle, and amember on said the same direction, its ascending portion ardevice toengage said extension.

ranged to travel in close proximity to said In testimony whereof I affixmy signatrack, an upper inclined track portion also ture, in presence oftwo witnesses.

inclined and having a recurved extension ARCHIBALD THOMSON. alsoinclined, the same lying in close proX- Witnesses: imity to thedescending portion of said de- A. KEITHLEY,

vice, a shackle, a hook by which it is sus- L. M. THURLOW.

